Hello fellow eco-warriors! It is my pleasure to present to you popular environmental organizations in Kenya. 

1. The Green Belt Movement

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) was founded by Professor Wangari Maathai in 1977 under the National Council of Women in Kenya (NCWK). GBM was formed to respond to the needs of rural Kenyan women who reported that their streams were drying up, their food supplies were dwindling and they had to walk further and further to get firewood for fuel and fencing. GBM encouraged the women to work together to grow seedlings and plant trees to bind the soil, store rainwater, provide food and firewood, and receive a small monetary token for their work.

GBM has four main areas of activity. These are: tree-planting and water harvesting, climate change, mainstream advocacy and gender livelihood and advocacy.  One of the biggest achievements of GBM, spearheaded by Prof. Wangari Maathai, was the saving of Uhuru Park in 1989. The park's greenery would have been replaced with a 60-storey tower and possibly parking space, had it not been for the professor, the movement, and the women that rallied behind her. GBM carries on, keeping Professor Wangari Maathai's legacy alive.

Fun fact: in 2004, Professor Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Price. The award was granted to her for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.

Hyperlinks to references: GBM and Prof. Wangari Maathai.


2. Green World Kenya

The Green World Kenya is a school-based environmental education program that fosters positive and proactive attitudes towards environmental conservation. The program seeks to capacity build young people in primary schools and secondary schools. It uses environmental clubs as a spring board to promote environmental education in the community. The program aims to: turn degraded lands green again, raise the living standards of the rural poor, combat climate change and create holistic ways to work for the health of our shared biosphere and the harmony of our global village.

Hyperlink to reference: Green World Movement

3.Kenya Organization for Environmental Education.

The Kenya Organization for Environmental Education (KOEE) is an NGO in Kenya that has been in operation since 1997. Its mission is to promote sustainable development through national and regional programs that stimulate active participation of communities to address their environmental challenges while focusing on quality, transparency, accountability, and cultural sensitivity.  View KOEE's programs here.

Hyperlink to reference: KOEE

4.African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC)

AYICC is currently present in over 25 countries, one of them being Kenya. The youth focus on climate change in Kenya has been taking shape through the national youth climate change conferences. This brought forth the Kenyan Youth Climate Network (KYCN). KYCN brings together all the youth organizations, students groups, individuals and community youth groups committed to working on climate change. The effects of climate change in Kenya are devastating, with important areas such as agriculture, tourism, biodiversity, water, health and security being affected. This compromises the economic and development growth and increases poverty. The Kenyan youth recognize that urgent action is needed to address these issues for the benefit of present and future generations.

Hyperlink to references: KYCN and AYICC

5. Clean up Kenya

The Clean Up Kenya was established in 2015 to empower the dream of a litter-free Kenya.There are petitions and projects under Clean Up Kenya to clean up neighbourhoods. It also keeps you up to date with the latest environmental news.

Hyperlink to reference: Clean Up Kenya

6. Hands Off Our Elephants

Headed by Dr. Paula Kahumbu, the CEO of Wildlife Direct, the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign was created in 2013 to address the issue of elephant poaching in Kenya, with over 100 elephants being gunned down in a day in Africa as a whole. The campaign has managed to raise awareness on the issue and mobilise political support. As of right now, Kenya has what is considered to be the strictest law in the world when it comes to poaching activities. The law stipulates that the minimum fine for killing an elephant or trafficking in ivory is US $ 230,000 and /or life imprisonment. Kenya's fist lady, Her Excellence Margaret Kenyatta, is the patron of the campaign. In 2015, Lupita Nyong'o joined WildAid as the global elephant ambassador and flew back home to Kenya to help with the cause. The campaign continues to push for reforms on law enforcement to ensure that poachers and traffickers are arrested and punished through an effective justice system. Some conservationists feel that unless China, the leading consumer of ivory in the world, commits to ending the ivory trade, elephants will be doomed.

Hyperlinks to references: Wildlife Direct, CNN, The Guardian


The above organizations have done a lot in terms of offering environmental education programs and spearheading clean up projects. However, a problem that they haven't been able to tackle yet is the recurrence of littering incidents. Perhaps borrowing a leaf from the Hands Off Our Elephants campaign to create a penalty for littering will do the trick.